St Stephen's Cathedral

In front of you stands the symbol of Vienna, the "Steffl", as the Viennese fondly call it. What you see is the result of almost four centuries of building, from the first church consecrated in 1147 to the great Gothic cathedral.

1The façade of the giants

The façade before you is the oldest surviving part. The Giants' Door, the Riesentor, and the two towers flanking it, the Heathen Towers, are Romanesque, from around 1230–1250. Behind them, Duke Rudolf IV launched the Gothic expansion from 1359. The south tower, the spire on your right, is 136.4 metres tall and was completed in 1433.

2The roof and the fire

On the night of 11 to 12 April 1945, in the last days of the war in Vienna, fire from nearby buildings reached the cathedral. The roof timbers burned and the great bell, the Pummerin, fell and shattered. Rebuilding was a nationwide effort, and the new roof, on a steel frame, was finished in 1950. Its coloured tiles form the Habsburg double-headed eagle on the south side.

To the left of the portal, two iron bars served for centuries as the official measure for cloth, so that no one could cheat at the market.

To the right of the portal, protected by glass, you will see "O5" carved into the stone, the symbol of the Austrian resistance against Nazism: O plus the fifth letter of the alphabet, E, makes "OE", for Österreich.

3What to look for

• The measuring rods beside the Riesentor.
• The O5 sign, to the right of the entrance.
• The coloured roof, best seen from the south side of the square.